Good Wednesday morning, Illinois! Congrats to all the winners and those headed into the April 2 runoff. This is some fun.

THE BUZZ

Former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot shocked the political establishment last night by securing the top spot in the runoff for mayor with 17.5 percent of the vote. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who took 16 percent, will join her. And Bill Daley is out,along with the 11 other candidates who made up the field. Numbers from Chicago Election Board here

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The April 2 runoff sets the stage for Chicago to elect its first African-American woman as mayor.

Expect a few campaign themes in the coming weeks, including “change vs. the status quo” and corruption, political strategist David Axelrod, co-founder of the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics, told POLITICO. “It’s not hard to understand in a city that has been rocked by corruption yet again that a candidate who speaks out forcefully about it and has no relationship to it would do well,” he said, referring to Lightfoot and her TV ad that took aim at corruption in City Hall.

THE SPOILER: Jerry Joyce, the mayoral candidate whose support in the wards dovetailed with Daley’s, knocked Daley out of the runoff. Joyce had 7.4 percent of the vote to Daley’s 14.7 percent. As we mentioned yesterday, the 19th and 41st wards were the ones to watch. In 19, Joyce secured 7,555 votes to Daley’s 1,833. And in 41, Joyce secured 2,969 to Daley’s 2,726. Check out the Tribune’s map here for ward by ward details. It’s cool.

Only in Chicago: Embattled Ald. Ed Burke, who faces a federal extortion charge, secured 53.8 percent of the vote to hold on to his 14th Ward seat. Burke’s ward is notorious for its low turnout. His victory is more of a lesson in old-school retail politics than ignoring corruption. “He worked precincts hard and got the voters out,” Empower Illinois Strategy Director Juan Rangel told POLITICO. “In spite of federal charges and all that, voters were looking at their own self-interest. It’s about getting their streets cleaned.” Despite his big win, the Sun-Times' Neil Steinberg says Burke's career may be finished: Story here

Drama continues with 3 aldermen pushed out: Northwest Side Ald. Proco “Joe” Moreno (1st); Far North Side Ald. Joe Moore (49th) and Northwest Side Ald. John Arena (45th) lost their races. Also, there are at least 13 aldermanic runoffs and three more races so close they may end up in runoffs. Among the sitting aldermen heading to the April 2 election are Deb Mell (33rd), Pat O’Connor (40th) and Michele Smith (47th).

WINNERS: —Democratic Party leader Mike Madigan, who saw two aldermanic allies defeat challengers by such large margins they avoided runoffs. They are Ald. Marty Quinn (who faced young upstart David Krupa) and Ald. Silvana Tabares. Sun-Times’ Lauren FitzPatrick has the story here.

—SEIU and Chicago Teachers Union, which got Preckwinkle into the run-off.

—David Orr and progressives who endorsed Lightfoot and aldermanic candidates, including Maria Hadden. She beatMoore in the 49th Ward.

—Ald. Matt O’Shea, whose name I fumbled yesterday, won 85 percent of the vote in the 19th Ward.

LOSERS:—Downtown business interests who didn’t gravitate to Lightfoot or Preckwinkle.

—Ken Griffin, who donated $2 million to Daley’s campaign.

—The Ricketts, who tried to boot Ald. Tom Tunney from the 44th Ward only to see him run away with 64 percent of the vote. He teared up during his victory speech.

—U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, whose aldermanic candidates lost in the 14th Ward (against Burke) and 25th (against the strident Byron Sigcho-Lopez). Garcia also backed Jessica Gutierrez, the daughter of former Congressman Luis Gutierrez, in the 30th Ward. She made it to a runoff against Ariel Reboyras.

SIXES: Mayor Rahm Emanuel made donations of $20,000 and $30,000 to 21 aldermen. Twelve won their races outright yesterday, seven are headed into runoffs and one (Moore) lost outright.

TONI’S CHALLENGE: She’s billed herself as an outsider, but in this race, Lightfoot will play that role.

LORI’S CHALLENGE: Business interests that dislike Preckwinkle’s penchant for taxes may endorse Lightfoot. But that might give Lightfoot the aura of an establishment candidate.

Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job or news nugget? Get in touch: skapos@politico.com.

CAMPAIGN MODE

— Lightfoot hangs tough for an amazing turnaround by any standard, by Mark Brown of the Sun-Times (which endorsed her). Story here

— State attorney general’s office investigating alleged vote-buying in 25th Ward: The Illinois attorney general's office sent two attorneys to a 25th Ward polling place late Tuesday to investigate reports by the poll-watching Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights that voters were offered gift cards in exchange for voting for Byron Sigcho-Lopez. Sun-Times' Lauren FitzPatrick has the story here.

— Concessions speeches in the mayor’s race came early and often last night. Tribune’s Rick Pearson has the details—photos of candidates included. Story here

— Chicago barely escaped setting a record for low voter turnout, according to Tribune’s Juan Perez Jr. and Bill Ruthhart. Story here

CHICAGO

— The story behind the story of documenting the R. Kelly case. It’s a fascinating tale, by Bob Chiarito for Gateway Journalism Review. Story here

— R. Kelly fan posted singer’s $100K bond after meeting him on cruise, friend says: Sun-Times' Nader Issa and Frank Main have the story here.

— Chicago special ed parents say students still being denied services: "Advocates and parents in Chicago say students with disabilities are still being denied needed services, even though a state monitor is now overseeing the public school system’s special education program. They submitted a letter Tuesday to newly appointed Illinois State Board of Education members calling out the state monitor for not doing more to force improvement. Among other things, they say the state monitor has not offered enough trainings for teachers and parents and is not collecting the information needed to devise an improvement plan." WBEZ's Sarah Karp has the story here.

— Catholics for Choice letter campaign. The group opposes any city plan to subsidize Presence Health downtown headquarters given the hospital rejects abortion and contraception. In a letter to aldermen and obtained by POLITICO, Catholics for Choice says Catholic bishops are allowing women “to be treated as second-class citizens in facilities supported by public dollars.” Last month, the City Council’s Finance Committee gave preliminary approval for a $5.6 million subsidy for Presence Health to build downtown despite.

STATE

— Barbara Flynn Currie to get first Woman Legislator of the Year award, according to the State Journal-Register’s Cassie Buchman. State Rep. Rita Mayfield, D-Waukegan, said at a press conference announcing the award that anyone “under the dome” will tell you that no three letters command more respect in Springfield than Currie’s initials, BFC. Story here

— Why even Illinois' Department of Corrections wants to fix the way the state does electronic monitoring: At a recent hearing on the state's electronic monitoring practices, experts and formerly incarcerated people dug into a host of problems with the program: It's expensive, overly restrictive, vulnerable to abuse of power and a barrier to successfully reintegrating into society post-prison. State Rep. Carol Ammons called for the hearing as she plans to file legislation to change the EM program. NPR Illinois' Lee V. Gaines has the story here.

— Autism coverage still lacking in Illinois: About a decade after the state began requiring private insurers to cover autism treatment, advocates are still fighting to expand that coverage. NPR Illinois' Jaclyn Driscoll has the story here.

— Cancer patient frustrated by wait to get in medical-marijuana program, by State Journal-Register's Dean Olsen: “Scott Wilbur, 61, waited almost three months for his application for the state’s medical-marijuana pilot program to be approved. He received his approval letter Friday but said he had hoped to benefit sooner from the appetite-enhancing and anxiety-reducing properties of legal cannabis during treatment for nasal cancer that was diagnosed in mid-November.” Story here

DELEGATION

National Guard looking at possible punishment for Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger's criticism of Wisconsin governor, by the AP’s Todd Richmond. Story here

NATION

— House votes to block Trump's national emergency declaration, by POLITICO's Sarah Ferris: Story here

— House Democrats to release 'Medicare for All' bill — without a price tag, by POLITICO's Adam Cancryn and Alice Miranda Ollstein: Story here

— Cohen testimony on Trump: 'He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat,' by POLITICO's Andrew Desiderio: Story here

JOB BOARD

— The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has hired Jennifer Martinez and Maria Speiser as Communications officers. Martinez was formerly senior deputy press secretary in the Office of the Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the first lady. Speiser served as deputy director of State Network Advancement for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

— Rob Havers has been named CEO of Pritzker Military Museum & Library. He previously headed the George C. Marshall Foundation in Lexington, Va. Before that, Havers headed the National Churchill Museum (in Missouri), which honors Sir Winston Churchill. Pritzker museum was founded by Jennifer Pritzker, cousin to the governor.

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About The Author : Shia Kapos

Shia Kapos is a reporter for POLITICO and author of POLITICO's Illinois Playbook, the most indispensable morning newsletter for influencers in Illinois government and politics.

Prior to joining POLITICO, she wrote the popular Taking Names column for the Chicago Sun-Times (and before that Crain’s Business). She’s also had stints at Dealreporter and the Salt Lake Tribune. Shia’s career has been built on breaking news and landing sit-down interviews with notable names and personalities. She’s covered billionaires on the rise and lawmakers’ precipitous falls—and all the terrain in between.